arXiv subjects

R. J. Rutten

Publications and source records attributed to R. J. Rutten.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2017

Slender Ca II H Fibrils Mapping Magnetic Fields in the Low Solar Chromosphere

A dense forest of slender bright fibrils near a small solar active region is seen in high-quality narrowband Ca II H images from the SuFI instrument onboard the Sunrise balloon-borne solar observatory. The orientation of these slender Ca II H fibrils (SCF) overlaps with the magnetic field configuration in the low solar chromosphere derived by magnetostatic extrapolation of the photospheric field observed with Sunrise/IMaX and SDO/HMI. In addition, many observed SCFs are qualitatively aligned with small-scale loops computed from a novel inversion approach based on best-fit numerical MHD simulation. Such loops are organized in canopy-like arches over quiet areas that differ in height depending on the field strength near their roots.

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arXiv2016

H-alpha features with hot onsets. II. A contrail fibril

The solar chromosphere observed in H-alpha consists mostly of narrow fibrils. The longest typically originate in network or plage and arch far over adjacent internetwork. We use data from multiple telescopes to analyze one well-observed example in a quiet area. It resulted from the earlier passage of an accelerating disturbance in which the gas was heated to high temperature as in the spicule-II phenomenon. After this passage a dark H-Halpha fibril appeared as a contrail. We use Saha-Boltzmann extinction estimation to gauge the onset and subsequent visibilities in various diagnostics and conclude that such H-alpha fibrils can indeed be contrail phenomena, not indicative of the thermodynamic and magnetic environment when they are observed but of more dynamic happenings before. They do not connect across internetwork cells but represent launch tracks of heating events and chart magnetic field during launch, not at present.

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arXiv2016

H-alpha features with hot onsets. I. Ellerman bombs

Ellerman bombs are transient brightenings of the wings of the Balmer lines that uniquely mark reconnection in the solar photosphere. They are also bright in strong Ca II and ultraviolet lines and in ultraviolet continua, but they are not visible in the optical continuum and the Na I D and Mg I b lines. These discordant visibilities invalidate all published Ellerman bomb modeling. I argue that the assumption of Saha-Boltzmann lower-level populations is informative to estimate bomb-onset opacities for these diverse diagnostics, even and especially for H-alpha, and employ such estimates to gauge the visibilities of Ellerman bomb onsets in all of them. They constrain Ellerman bomb formation to temperatures 10,000 - 20,000 K and hydrogen densities around 10^15 cm^-3. Similar arguments likely hold for H-alpha visibility in other transient phenomena with hot and dense onsets.

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arXiv2015

Ellerman bombs at high resolution. IV. Visibility in Na I and Mg I

Ellerman bombs are transient brightenings of the wings of the solar Balmer lines that mark reconnection in the photosphere. Ellerman noted in 1917 that he did not observe such brightenings in the Na I D and Mg I b lines. This non-visibility should constrain EB interpretation, but has not been addressed in published bomb modeling. We therefore test Ellerman's observation and confirm it using high-quality imaging spectrometry with the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope. However, we find diffuse brightness in these lines that seems to result from prior EBs. We tentatively suggest this is a post-bomb hot-cloud phenomenon also found in recent EB spectroscopy in the ultraviolet.

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arXiv2012

Ubiquitous torsional motions in type II spicules

Spicules are long, thin, highly dynamic features that jut out ubiquitously from the solar limb. They dominate the interface between the chromosphere and corona and may provide significant mass and energy to the corona. We use high-quality observations with the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope to establish that so-called type II spicules are characterized by the simultaneous action of three different types of motion: 1. field-aligned flows of order 50-100 km/s, 2. swaying motions of order 15-20 km/s, and 3. torsional motions of order 25-30 km/s. The first two modes have been studied in detail before, but not the torsional motions. Our analysis of many near-limb and off-limb spectra and narrow-band images yields strong evidence that most, if not all, type-II spicules undergo large torsional modulation and that these motions, like spicule swaying, represent Alfvenic waves propagating outward at several hundred km/s. The combined action of the different motions explains the similar morphology of spicule bushes in the outer red and blue wings of chromospheric lines, and needs to be taken into account when interpreting Doppler motions to derive estimates for field-aligned flows in spicules and determining the Alfvenic wave energy in the solar atmosphere. Our results also suggest that large torsional motion is an ingredient in the production of type-II spicules and that spicules play an important role in the transport of helicity through the solar atmosphere.

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arXiv2012

Chromospheric backradiation in ultraviolet continua and Halpha

A recent paper states that ultraviolet backradiation from the solar transition region and upper chromosphere strongly affects the degree of ionization of minority stages at the top of the photosphere, i.e., in the temperature minimum of the one-dimensional static model atmospheres presented in that paper. We show that this claim is incompatible with bservations and we demonstrate that the pertinent ionization balances are instead dominated by outward photospheric radiation, as in older static models. We then analyze the formation of Halpha in the above model and show that it has significant backradiation across the opacity gap by which Halpha differs from other strong scatttering lines.

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arXiv2011

Quiet-Sun imaging asymmetries in NaI D1 compared with other strong Fraunhofer lines

Imaging spectroscopy of the solar atmosphere using the NaI D1 line yields marked asymmetry between the blue and red line wings: sampling a quiet-Sun area in the blue wing displays reversed granulation, whereas sampling in the red wing displays normal granulation. The MgI b2 line of comparable strength does not show this asymmetry, nor does the stronger CaII 8542 line. We demonstrate the phenomenon with near-simultaneous spectral images in NaI D1, MgI b2, and CaII 8542 from the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope. We then explain it with line-formation insights from classical 1D modeling and with a 3D magnetohydrodynamical simulation combined with NLTE spectral line synthesis that permits detailed comparison with the observations in a common format. The cause of the imaging asymmetry is the combination of correlations between intensity and Dopplershift modulation in granular overshoot and the sensitivity to these of the steep profile flanks of the NaI D1 line. The MgI b2 line has similar core formation but much wider wings due to larger opacity buildup and damping in the photosphere. Both lines obtain marked core asymmetry from photospheric shocks in or near strong magnetic concentrations, less from higher-up internetwork shocks that produce similar asymmetry in the spatially averaged CaII 8542 profile.

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arXiv2010

Waves in the chromosphere: observations

I review the literature on observational aspects of waves in the solar chromosphere in the first part of this contribution. High-frequency waves are invoked to build elaborate cool-star chromosphere heating theories but have not been detected decisively so far, neither as magnetic modes in network elements nor as acoustic modes in below-the-canopy internetwork regions. Three-minute upward-propagating acoustic shocks are thoroughly established through numerical simulation as the cause of intermittent bright internetwork grains, but their pistoning and their role in the low-chromosphere energy budget remain in debate. Three-minute wave interaction with magnetic canopies is a newer interest, presently progressing through numerical simulation. Three-minute umbral flashes and running penumbral waves seem a similar acoustic-shock phenomenon awaiting numerical simulation. The low-frequency network Doppler modulation remains enigmatic. In the second part, I address low-frequency ultraviolet brightness variations of the internetwork chromosphere in more detail. They contribute about half of the internetwork brightness modulation and presumably figure in cool-star basal flux. They appear to be a mixture of inverse-contrast granular overshoot at small scales and gravity-wave interference at mesogranular scales. I present TRACE evidence for the latter interpretation, and speculate that the low-frequency brightness minima map canopy heights.

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arXiv2009

The quiet solar atmosphere observed and simulated in NaD1

The NaD1 line in the solar spectrum is sometimes attributed to the solar chromosphere. We study its formation in quiet-Sun network and internetwork. We first present high-resolution profile-resolved images taken in this line with the imaging spectrometer IBIS at the Dunn Solar Telescope and compare these to simultaneous chromospheric images taken in Ca 8542 and Halpha. We then model NaD1 formation by performing 3D NLTE profile synthesis for a snapshot from a 3D radiation-magnetohydrodynamics simulation. We find that most NaD1 brightness is not chromospheric but samples the magnetic concentrations that make up the quiet-Sun network in the photosphere, well below the height where they merge into chromospheric canopies, with aureoles from 3D resonance scattering. The line core is sensitive to magneto-acoustic shocks in and near magnetic concentrations, where shocks occur deeper than elsewhere, and may provide evidence of heating sited deep within magnetic concentrations.

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arXiv2009

The solar chromosphere at high resolution with IBIS. IV. Dual-line evidence of heating in chromospheric network

The structure and energy balance of the solar chromosphere remain poorly known. We have used the imaging spectrometer IBIS at the Dunn Solar Telescope to obtain fast-cadence, multi-wavelength profile sampling of Halpha and Ca II 854.2 nm over a sizable two-dimensional field of view encompassing quiet-Sun network. We provide a first inventory of how the quiet chromosphere appears in these two lines by comparing basic profile measurements in the form of image displays, temporal-average displays, time slices, and pixel-by-pixel correlations. We find that the two lines can be markedly dissimilar in their rendering of the chromosphere, but that, nevertheless, both show evidence of chromospheric heating, particularly in and around network: Halpha in its core width, Ca II 854.2 in its brightness. We discuss venues for improved modeling.

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arXiv2009

Dynamic Ly alpha jets

The solar chromosphere and transition region are highly structured and complex regimes. A recent breakthrough has been the identification of dynamic fibrils observed in H alpha as caused by field-aligned magnetoacoustic shocks. We seek to find whether such dynamic fibrils are also observed in Ly alpha. We used a brief sequence of four high-resolution Ly alpha images of the solar limb taken by the Very high Angular resolution ULtraviolet Telescope (VAULT), which displays many extending and retracting Ly alpha jets. We measured their top trajectories and fitted parabolas to the 30 best-defined ones. Most jet tops move supersonically. Half of them decelerate, sometimes superballistically, the others accelerate. This bifurcation may arise from incomplete sampling of recurrent jets. The similarities between dynamic Ly alpha jets and H alpha fibrils suggest that the magnetoacoustic shocks causing dynamic H alpha fibrils also affect dynamic Ly alpha jets.

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arXiv2008

Explanation of the activity sensitivity of Mn I 5394.7 Å

There is a long-standing controversy concerning the reason why the Mn I 5394.7 A line in the solar irradiance spectrum brightens more at larger activity than most other photospheric lines. The claim that this activity sensitivity is caused by spectral interlocking to chromospheric emission in Mg II h & k is disputed. Classical one-dimensional modeling is used for demonstration; modern three-dimensional MHD simulation for verification and analysis. The Mn I 5394.7 A line thanks its unusual sensitivity to solar activity to its hyperfine structure. This overrides the thermal and granular Doppler smearing through which the other, narrower, photospheric lines lose such sensitivity. We take the nearby Fe I 5395.2 A line as example of the latter and analyze the formation of both lines in detail to demonstrate and explain granular Doppler brightening. We show that this affects all narrow lines. Neither the chromosphere nor Mg II h & k play a role, nor is it correct to describe the activity sensitivity of Mn I 5394.7 A through plage models with outward increasing temperature contrast. The Mn I 5394.7 A line represents a proxy diagnostic of strong-field magnetic concentrations in the deep solar photosphere comparable to the G band and the blue wing of H-alpha, but not a better one than these. The Mn I lines are more promising as diagnostic of weak fields in high-resolution Stokes polarimetry.

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arXiv2007

On the solar abundance of indium

The generally adopted value for the solar abundance of indium is over six times higher than the meteoritic value. We address this discrepancy through numerical synthesis of the 451.13 nm line on which all indium abundance studies are based, both for the quiet-sun and the sunspot umbra spectrum, employing standard atmosphere models and accounting for hyperfine structure and Zeeman splitting in detail. The results, as well as a re-appraisal of indium nucleosynthesis, suggest that the solar indium abundance is close to the meteoritic value, and that some unidentified ion line causes the 451.13 nm feature in the quiet-sun spectrum.

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arXiv2007

Non-equilibrium hydrogen ionization in 2D simulations of the solar atmosphere

The ionization of hydrogen in the solar chromosphere and transition region does not obey LTE or instantaneous statistical equilibrium because the timescale is long compared with important hydrodynamical timescales, especially of magneto-acoustic shocks. We implement an algorithm to compute non-equilibrium hydrogen ionization and its coupling into the MHD equations within an existing radiation MHD code, and perform a two-dimensional simulation of the solar atmosphere from the convection zone to the corona. Analysis of the simulation results and comparison to a companion simulation assuming LTE shows that: a) Non-equilibrium computation delivers much smaller variations of the chromospheric hydrogen ionization than for LTE. The ionization is smaller within shocks but subsequently remains high in the cool intershock phases. As a result, the chromospheric temperature variations are much larger than for LTE because in non-equilibrium, hydrogen ionization is a less effective internal energy buffer. The actual shock temperatures are therefore higher and the intershock temperatures lower. b) The chromospheric populations of the hydrogen n = 2 level, which governs the opacity of Halpha, are coupled to the ion populations. They are set by the high temperature in shocks and subsequently remain high in the cool intershock phases. c) The temperature structure and the hydrogen level populations differ much between the chromosphere above photospheric magnetic elements and above quiet internetwork. d) The hydrogen n = 2 population and column density are persistently high in dynamic fibrils, suggesting that these obtain their visibility from being optically thick in Halpha also at low temperature.

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arXiv2007

Search for photospheric footpoints of quiet Sun transition region loops

CONTEXT:The footpoints of quiet Sun Transition Region (TR) loops do not seem to coincide with the photospheric magnetic structures appearing in traditional low-sensitivity magnetograms. AIMS: To look for the so-far unidentified photospheric footpoints of TR loops using G-band bright points (BPs) as proxies for photospheric magnetic field concentrations. METHODS: Comparison of TR measurements with SoHO/SUMER and photospheric magnetic field observations obtained with the Dutch Open Telescope. RESULTS: Photospheric BPs are associated with bright TR structures, but they seem to avoid the brightest parts of the structure. BPs appear in regions that are globally redshifted, but they avoid extreme velocities. TR explosive events are not clearly associated with BPs. CONCLUSIONS: The observations are not inconsistent with the BPs being footpoints of TR loops, although we have not succeeded to uniquely identify particular BPs with specific TR loops.

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arXiv2007

Dynamics of the solar chromosphere. V. High-frequency modulation in ultraviolet image sequences from TRACE

We search for signatures of high-frequency oscillations in the upper solar photosphere and low chromosphere in the context of acoustic heating of outer stellar atmospheres. We use ultraviolet image sequences of a quiet center-disk area from the Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) mission which were taken with strict cadence regularity. The latter permits more reliable high-frequency diagnosis than in earlier work. Spatial Fourier power maps, spatially averaged coherence and phase-difference spectra, and spatio-temporal k-f decompositions all contain high-frequency features that at first sight seem of considerable intrinsic interest but actually are more likely to represent artifacts of different nature. Spatially averaged phase difference measurement provides the most sensitive diagnostic and indicates the presence of acoustic modulation up to f=20 mHz (periods down to 50 seconds) in internetwork areas.

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arXiv2007

DOT tomography of the solar atmosphere. IV. Magnetic patches in internetwork areas

We use G-band and Ca II H image sequences from the Dutch Open Telescope (DOT) to study magnetic elements that appear as bright points in internetwork parts of the quiet solar photosphere and chromosphere. We find that many of these bright points appear recurrently with varying intensity and horizontal motion within longer-lived magnetic patches. We develop an algorithm for detection of the patches and find that all patches identified last much longer than the granulation. The patches outline cell patterns on mesogranular scales, indicating that magnetic flux tubes are advected by granular flows to mesogranular boundaries. Statistical analysis of the emergence and disappearance of the patches points to an average patch lifetime as long as 530+-50 min (about nine hours), which suggests that the magnetic elements constituting strong internetwork fields are not generated by a local turbulent dynamo.

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arXiv2007

Fourier analysis of active-region plage

We study the dynamical interaction of the solar chromosphere with the transition region in mossy and non-mossy active-region plage. We carefully align image sequences taken with the Transition Region And Coronal Explorer (TRACE) in the ultraviolet passbands around 1550, 1600, and 1700 A and the extreme ultraviolet passbands at 171 and 195 A. We compute Fourier phase-difference spectra that are spatially averaged separately over mossy and non-mossy plage to study temporal modulations as a function of temporal frequency. The 1550 versus 171 A comparison shows zero phase difference in non-mossy plage. In mossy plage, the phase differences between all UV and EUV passbands show pronounced upward trends with increasing frequency, which abruptly changes into zero phase difference beyond 4-6 mHz. The phase difference between the 171 and 195 A sequences exhibits a shallow dip below 3 mHz and then also turns to zero phase difference beyond this value. We attribute the various similarities between the UV and EUV diagnostics that are evident in the phase-difference diagrams to the contribution of the C IV resonance lines in the 1550 and 1600 A passbands. The strong upward trend at the lower frequencies indicates the presence of upward-traveling disturbances. It points to correspondence between the lower chromosphere and the upper transition region, perhaps by slow-mode magnetosonic disturbances, or by a connection between chromospheric and coronal heating mechanisms. The transition from this upward trend to zero phase difference at higher frequencies is due to the intermittent obscuration by fibrils that occult the foot points of hot loops, which are bright in the EUV and C IV lines, in oscillatory manner.

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